Prompt 19: A Good Scientist
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: Alphys is scared and ashamed to face Gaster when he is rescued from the void. Can the skeleton scientist convince her that she doesn't have to be afraid of him?


**From my list of Undertale Tickle Prompts on my Deviantart page. :)**

 **Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. I own nothing.**

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 **Prompt 19: A Good Scientist  
(Gaster and Alphys; platonic pairing)**

Alphys moved about her lab quickly, hoping to stay completely busy that day. Normally, she'd be checking experiments and notes, but today, she was moving almost as if something was after her. Or perhaps haunting her.

She wouldn't admit this, but she was terrified to run into Gaster. Frisk had broken the barrier a couple months ago and found a way to save the tall skeleton from the void and Gaster had been seeking out everyone from old friends to friends of his brothers, who all welcomed him warmly. He hadn't yet come to see Alphys and she was hoping he wouldn't.

Sans and Gaster stood outside Alphys' lab door. "She's in here," Sans said.

"I wonder why she hasn't been around when I've come to see everyone," Gaster said thoughtfully.

"Not sure, bro," the joke-loving skeleton said. "But…Undyne mentioned something about Alphys saying she was going to be very busy for a while."

The tall skeleton gave that some thought. "When did she say that?" He asked.

"Believe it or not, the day you came to Asgore and Toriel's home, at that party," Sans answered. "Undyne thought it was strange that Alphys wasn't feeling well and took her home, and thought it was stranger when Alphys said she was going to be in the lab for a long time afterwards."

Gaster peeked through the glass window to see the small yellow dinosaur scurrying about. "Well, perhaps I can help her," he said. "It seems she has a lot going on right now."

"Good luck, bro," his younger brother said.

"Thank you, Sans. I'll see you at home later."

Alphys had just reorganized some files and let out a breath of relief. "There, that's better," she said aloud. She suddenly heard the door shut and jumped a little. "O-Oh, s-sorry. I-I'm afraid I c-can't h-help you," she stammered out, not turning around to see who was behind her. "I-I'm v-very busy at t-the m-moment."

"Too busy to say 'hello', little Alphys?"

The small dinosaur's eyes widened and she let out a yelp and turned sharply to see Gaster standing a few feet away from her, smiling. "Hello, Alphys," he said pleasantly.

"D-D-D-Doctor G-G-Gaster!"

The skeleton's smile dropped a little and he looked concerned at the frightened look Alphys was giving him. "I didn't mean to startle you, my dear," he said, taking a couple steps forward. She quickly scrambled back about five steps, making his concern grow more. "Is something wrong, Alphys?"

She quickly cleared her throat. "N-No, not at all!" She said in a high-pitched voice. "Just…I've j-just been very b-busy."

"So I noticed," Gaster said. "But why are you backing away from me?"

Alphys thought fast. "Just need to get some notes!" She said quickly, before turning to run, but stopped with a surprised cry as she found several ghostly hands with holes in their palms in front of her and they began reaching for her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The tall skeleton jumped a little at the loud scream Alphys let out and he decided that he needed to get her to calm down fast, having a sinking feeling that the scientist was scared of him, though he did wonder why. He saw the small dinosaur quickly dodge left, but his summoned hands moved faster and they quickly caught her, lifting her up from the floor with two holding her arms over her head in a secure grip and two more grabbing her ankles as she struggled to get free, but the hands held her firmly as she hovered over the ground. Gaster moved closer now, standing in front of her. "Now, Alphys, why were you running from me?" He asked. "You seem quite scared of me."

She trembled as he stood before her and he moved his hand upward so that Alphys was hovering higher over the floor, but level with his waist. "D-Doctor G-Gaster, p-please p-put me d-down," she pleaded.

Now there was no question in his mind about her being scared of him and he gave her a thoughtful look. "My dear Alphys, you've been avoiding me, have run away from me, and are absolutely trembling in terror of me," he said. "I'm afraid I must understand why you are so scared of me, but with the state you are in, you are in desperate need of treatment only I can give you."

The poor dinosaur swallowed hard, trying to squirm again. "What t-treatment?" She asked in a small voice.

Gaster smiled at her and raised his hands. "A very helpful treatment," he said, his hands going for her feet. She shut her eyes tightly, jerking her right foot sharply at feeling a very gentle stroke on her right sole. "Ah, and I believe I'll start first with these little feet of yours."

Alphys trembled harder, but when two fingers began gently sliding up and down her feet, she couldn't help the giggles that escaped her. The tall skeleton smiled at hearing her giggles. "Ah, good. The treatment is starting to take effect," he said. "Now, let me hear you giggle louder."

Using all his fingers on both his hands, he began tickling Alphys' feet faster and just as he expected, her giggles grew louder, especially when he moved his wiggling fingers all over her feet, not missing a single spot. "You're responding quite well to your treatment, my dear," he said, his voice carrying a teasing note.

"Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee! Stohohop!" Alphys pleaded.

"Oh, but your treatment is not yet done, little Alphys," Gaster teased her, tickling her knees for a brief moment to make her giggle again. "As a caring friend, I must make sure your treatment goes well, and that's exactly what I intend to do. Now, if I remember correctly, your little tummy is in need of special attention."

She gasped and squirmed as he smiled and brought his hands closer to her stomach, wiggling his fingers just a bit above her stomach and she let out a nervous laugh, biting her lip before the skeleton surprised her by taking a deep breath and bringing his head down to her stomach and blowing a great big raspberry right onto her belly button.

"AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHO! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! THAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAT TICKLES!" Alphys laughed out.

"Ah, your little belly button is still sensitive. Good," he said, his smile big as he made a hand motion and the dinosaur was now parallel to the floor and wiggled his fingers again. "Come, my dear Alphys. Let me hear that cute laughter of yours."

He didn't even give her a chance to protest as he summoned more hands to help him and when six hands began tickling her stomach, she instantly burst into laughter, especially when Gaster twirled a finger into her sensitive belly button. "Tickle, tickle, tickle! You're in my grasp, my little ticklish dinosaur, and I will tickle you pink! Cootchie, cootchie, coo!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Alphys just laughed her hardest, her laughter turning into a squeak whenever Gaster blew a raspberry into her stomach or belly button.

The skeleton smirked and moved his hands to her underarms to tickle there before darting back down to her stomach, which only made her laugh harder before Gaster decided to give her a breather before he'd give her more raspberries to her stomach and belly button. "Well, I believe you are doing a bit better, but you still need a little more treatment before you're completely better, Alphys," he said.

She panted as he stood over her, watching before he gently stroked her head with a gentle hand. She opened her eyes to look up at him and saw how concerned he looked for her. Her trembling had stopped, but she was still a little afraid and he could see that. "Gaster?" She asked.

He gently squeezed her shoulder. "Let's get you feeling completely better," he said, his smile growing before he moved back to Alphys' stomach and not only tickled it all over, he also blew raspberries all over her stomach, making sure to get her belly button really good as well.

She laughed her hardest and squirmed to get free, but those ghostly hands kept her restrained until her laughter started to get quiet, something Gaster noticed immediately and stopped the tickle torture, surprising the small dinosaur by lifting her up into his arms. While she was stout, the tall skeleton had no trouble carrying her to her couch and sitting down on it, one of his summoned hands bringing over some water. Alphys stayed put in Gaster's lap, drinking the water gratefully and feeling Gaster's hands gently rub her back and shoulders. She suddenly sniffled and he looked at her. "Alphys, my dear friend, why were you avoiding me? What made you so afraid of me?" He asked.

"I…I…I'm…I'm a…," she began and then shook her head. "I can't do anything right."

He looked surprised. "What do you mean, Alphys?" He asked.

She sniffled. "I…I tried to find a way to free you after Frisk told me where you were," she said. "But…I couldn't. I tried. Nothing worked. I don't know why I'm a scientist if I can't even succeed at anything."

Gaster pulled her into a hug. "Alphys, listen to me, my dear," he said and she looked up at him. "You are a good scientist and you were a wonderful apprentice to me and I'm very proud that you became the Royal Scientist. You've done so much good, especially in the Underground after I got trapped in the void. But you helped Frisk to find me in the void so that she could free me, and that's just as important and a success on your part, with some help from the young child. You didn't fail and you never could fail me. Ever."

His kind words made tears come to her eyes and she quickly wiped them away as she hugged him. "Thank you, Gaster," she said, feeling better. "Sorry about…being scared of you. I was worried you'd be disappointed with me."

"How can I be disappointed in my star student and my best friend?" He asked, wiggling his fingers into her stomach to make her giggle again. "That could never happen."

Gaster then stood up and picked her up. "Now, why don't we get back to the others? Toriel and Asgore are having a picnic today and want all of us there, including you," he said as he began walking towards the door. "Unless you have some experiments that need looking after?"

He said this part gently and Alphys smiled before shaking her head. "I was mostly running around trying to look busy," she admitted sheepishly.

A warm, amused chuckle filled her ears and she smiled, feeling better that her teacher and best friend had helped her see she was a good scientist and that he cared enough about her to help her out like a good friend should.

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 **GoldGuardian2418**


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